Bates women finish second at Southern Maine Invitational
GORHAM, Maine — The Bates College women’s track and field team scored in 15 out of 17 events and finished second out of six teams in its indoor season opener on Saturday at the Southern Maine Invitational.
The Bobcats scored 107 points, second to USM (196.5) and ahead of Colby (94.5), MIT (90), Coast Guard (88) and Mt. Holyoke (55).
Senior Keelin Godsey (Parker, Colo.), formerly Kelly Godsey, won both the shot put and the weight throw decisively. Godsey heaved the weight 62 feet and 2 inches, over 17 feet farther than second-place Abbey Ahearn of USM, and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships with the throw. Godsey’s shot put of 40-7.5 was a New England Division III championships qualifying distance.
Other qualifiers for the New England Division III championships were: senior Kathleen Nugent (Buxton, Maine) in the 55-meter hurdles (9.19 in preliminaries; second place in finals) and in the high jump (5-0; second place); first-year Isabel Alexander (Harvard, Mass.) in the 55 hurdles (9.50 in preliminaries; seventh place) and in the long jump (15-9; seventh place); sophomore Laura Golitko (Hopkinton, Mass.) in the pole vault (9-7; third place); and senior Kathryn Moore (Pelham, N.H.) in the 1,500 meters (4:52.06; second place).
Nugent’s 55-meter hurdle time was the ninth best in school history. Golitko’s pole vault was second on the school’s all-time list.
Other standouts for Bates included senior Danielle Touhey (Franklin, Mass.) in the 200 (28.81; fifth place); first-year Tara Higgins (Hyde Park, Vt.) in the 400 (1:05.84; fourth place); sophomore Amy Rosania (Rye Beach, N.H.) in the 600 (1:45.26; third place); first-year Jen Marino (Methuen, Mass.) in the triple jump (32-8.5; fifth place); and sophomore Molly Balentine (Hampden, Maine) in the 1,500 (5:08.81; sixth place).
The Bates women will compete at the Tufts Invitational next Saturday, Jan. 21.